Panama City Beach is a resort city in the Florida Panhandle, and principal city of the Panama City Metropolitan Area. Being located on the Emerald Coast area of Florida, it is a popular vacation destination. Panama City Beach had a population of 18,094 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 12,018 in 2010. Panama City Beach's slogan is "The World's Most Beautiful Beaches" due to the unique, sugar-white sandy beaches of the Florida Panhandle.

Panama City Beach has dangerous rip currents. Sea conditions are particularly dangerous during periods when lifeguards have put up double red flags, indicating active rip currents. By attempting to directly return to the beach, against the rip current, swimmers get tired-out in the process and drown.

Real estate boom

A construction boom in the early to mid-2000s changed the image of the area due to the older homes and motels being replaced with high-rise condominiums and more expansive homes. However, this is turning unobstructed, low-rise beach views and affordable waterfront property into rarities. At the peak of the real estate boom, many beachfront properties had quadrupled or more in value since 2000. In November 2006 CNN/Money named Panama City Beach the No. 1 real estate market in America for the next five years in.

Beachfront property has sold for upwards of $60,000 per "front foot" (linear foot) at the top of the market. The downturn in the U.S. real estate market in 2007, combined with a surge of new condo construction, brought spiraling prices somewhat under control. With the real estate boom, Panama City Beach became a well known destination for spring break.

Category 5 Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach in Bay County on October 10, 2018, becoming one of the strongest and most-destructive hurricanes in American history as it destroyed a large part of the county, including many structures in Mexico Beach and Panama City.

An EF-0 tornado did minor damage to the northwest part of Panama City Beach, Florida on February 15.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and – or 1.17% – is water.

Panama City Beach is located towards the eastern half of the Florida Panhandle, along the Gulf of Mexico.

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Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable"

|+Panama City Beach racial composition<br> (Hispanics excluded from racial categories)<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)<br>

!Race

!Pop 2010

!Pop 2020

!% 2010

!% 2020

|-

|White (NH)

|10,334

|14,181

|85.99%

|78.37%

|-

|Black or African American (NH)

|268

|947

|2.23%

|5.23%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native (NH)

|64

|74

|0.53%

|0.41%

|-

|Asian (NH)

|326

|556

|2.71%

|3.07%

|-

|Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)

|6

|15

|0.05%

|0.08%

|-

|Some other race (NH)

|22

|73

|0.18%

|0.40%

|-

|Two or more races/Multiracial (NH)

|301

|885

|2.50%

|4.89%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|697

|1,363

|5.80%

|7.53%

|-

|Total

|12,018

|18,094

|

|

|-

|}

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Panama City Beach had a population of 18,094. The median age was 45.7 years. 16.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.0 males age 18 and over.

There were 8,031 households in Panama City Beach, of which 22.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.5% were married-couple households, 20.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

|-

| White || 14,474 || 80.0%

|-

| Black or African American || 968 || 5.3%

|-

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 84 || 0.5%

|-

| Asian || 561 || 3.1%

|-

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 15 || 0.1%

|-

| Some other race || 524 || 2.9%

|-

| Two or more races || 1,468 || 8.1%

|-

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 1,363 || 7.5%

|}

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 12,018 people, 5,149 households, and 3,166 families residing in the town.

In 2010, WCW was bought out by their rival competition WWF (now WWE).

Recreation

  • Frank Brown Park – 100-acre complex with baseball, softball, soccer and t-ball fields, basketball and tennis courts, several playgrounds, shuffleboard courts, a youth fishing pond, three dog park enclosures, and a 20-acre festival site.
  • Panama City Acquatics Center – located at Frank Brown Park, the center includes an outdoor Olympic-size pool and kids splash pool.
  • St. Andrews State Park – offers a variety of experiences included swimming, boating, camping, snorkeling, bicycling, and more.

<gallery class="center" widths="120px">

Image:Emerald Coast.jpg|The town lies on Florida's "Emerald Coast" of the Gulf of Mexico

Image:PanamaCityBeach.jpg|Clear waters as seen from Pier Park's pier

Image:Ripley'sMuseumPanamaCityBeach.jpg|"Ripley's Believe it or Not!" museum, a tourist attraction

Image:Front Beach Road.jpg|Looking down on Front Beach Road

</gallery>

  • Panama City Beach is the setting for the 2015 film Dancin': It's On!
  • Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally
  • Gulf Coast Jam – this 3-day outdoor concert event is held annually in May/June and showcases country music performers. The event in 2024 is sold out.
  • The first two seasons of MTV's Floribama Shore were filmed in the town.

References

  • Official website
  • Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau